Making your money work harder in 2016

Do you understand how your FX provider calculates spreads? Do you know how much transparency your foreign currency supplier is giving you on your rates? Make sure to challenge your provider and to compare overall rates.

How much does acquiring foreign currency impact the bottom line?

It may be surprising, upon reviewing in detail, just how much of an impact foreign transactions can have on a business’ profitability. Moving to a more cost-effective provider could be an easy and immediate saving that increases profit.

What effect does FX have on the nitty-gritty of a business model?

FX impacts not only revenue, but also costs. If you are in charge of managing an international supply chain, or spend any significant amount of money on international suppliers and contracts, then it could prove extremely valuable to evaluate the payment mechanisms used to handle foreign currency transactions.

Where can the funds saved be deployed?

It might sound obvious, but any cost a business manages to reduce can be spent elsewhere. The savings made could be used to generate greater productivity through increased employment capacity, or reinvested into marketing or sales acquisition. The possibilities are numerous and varied.

How much do I know about the alternative financial services ecosystem?

Traditional FX practices suit the market incumbents perfectly. That is – they make it easy for banks and brokers to skim off the top of currency transactions. Now, there’s a viable technology-based alternative that is disrupting the traditional model and could make your currency transactions simple, fair and efficient.

Taking the time to understand new systems and methodologies, such as peer-to-peer currency exchange, could lead to a solution that sees you reducing cost, driving profitability and contributing to the success of yours or your employer’s business.

James is freemarket’s Chief Commercial Officer. He has a history of finding new ways to solve age-old financial challenges and was responsible for launching some of the first online money transfer and prepaid card initiatives in Europe.